Our little firecrackers

We had a fun 4th with family ... hope you all did too!

18 months!

Isaiah turned 18 months old this week! He is now walking around about 10 steps or so at a time - he has the funniest little walk! He continues to grow and learn and is loving being in the pool this summer too!

Big sister Anna is doing good too ... she cracks us up everyday - I can't even keep up with all of the clever/funny things she says.

Home 2 months!

Wow, where does the time go! I have good intentions to update the blog, but time always gets away from me. It seems like we've been home with Isaiah for much longer than just 2 months.

We are all still adjusting, but really for such a short time home, things are going really good. Isaiah has come such a long way from that first day we met him. He is now starting to take small steps and I know he'll be running through the house chasing Anna soon! He has picked up on the baby signs so fast and does a great job communicating his needs. He is also talking a fair amount too ... our current favorite is Thank You, which sounds like Taco with a "c" instead of a "t". Too cute.

Anna is doing good too ... she's learned to play both the 'I'm a big girl' and 'I want to be the baby' card, as needed.  :-)  We are very proud of her as we've watched her adjust to her new role.

Okay, so really it's about the pictures .... here are some taken over the last month or so.

He loves bath time now!

His Easter basket was bigger than he was!

Love this pic!

He loves Mocha

She loves her bike!

Always the helper - love this shot of her!

Daddy's Girl

Checking out the playhouse

Go Cards!!

2 weeks home

It's hard to believe we have already been home two weeks. We are starting to get our new routine down and things are going good. Isaiah is still sleeping through the night ... very grateful for that! Anna is adjusting well to her big sister role.

We can't believe the differences we are already seeing in Isaiah. He has probably put on almost 2 lbs! He's already learned to give kisses and blow kisses, wave hi and bye, he knows his name, he can sign more and all done ... it's amazing how quickly he has picked things up!

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks...

At the zoo ... it was so cute, Isaiah kept his hand on Anna's knee most of the time.

First few days at home

Things are going good ... somehow we are all sleeping through the night and the jet lag hasn't bothered us as much this time as it did last time! I (Laura) ended up with some 24 hour stomach bug yesterday that was awful and Anna had a slight case of it today, but she seems better now. The kids are getting along great. The main struggle has been making sure everyone gets the attention they need. Of course, Anna wants to be "babied" a bit more and Isaiah get a bit jealous of the affection we give her, but all in all everyone is happy!

It was nice enough today that we were able to get outside. We can tell Isaiah hasn't been outside much, but he seems to really like it. Anna enjoyed having a riding partner in the wagon! We're looking forward to many more nice days outside!

This was about 11:30pm, just minutes after we got home!

First wagon ride & first time sporting his Cardinals cap!

Anna loves her bike helmet and didn't want to take it off!

Home!!

We finally made it home late last night! Thankfully we were up so late that both kids slept through the night and we even had to wake Isaiah up at 9:30 this morning (we're trying to get him on US time, so we couldn't let him sleep too late).

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of days, things got very busy once we started traveling. Isaiah did good on the flight ... the flight was extremely turbulent - thankfully he slept through most of it. Anna couldn't have been happier to see her baby brother last night!

Both kids are napping now and we're trying to get unpacked. We'll get some pictures loaded soon of the last couple of days and hopefully some of the airport last night.

Consulate Appt. Day

We were up and at 'em early this morning to load our bus by 7:45 to be at the Consulate for our 8:30 appointment. We were in and out much faster than the last time we were here ... back in the bus by 9:00am! We had to swing by another hotel to pick up two other families from our agency as they had to head to back to the medical clinic for a quick check with their kids. Then we went to the Pedestrian Street for some shopping and sightseeing ....  by this time it was noon and we were all beat, so we ended our visit pretty quickly.

Tonight will be our last night in Guangzhou. Tomorrow we check out at 2:00pm and then pick up Isaiah's visa before heading to the train station. We will take the 5pm train to Hong Kong and arrive in Hong Kong around 7pm. Our hotel in Hong Kong is connected to the airport which will make our 11am flight on Wednesday easy to catch. So, we'll leave here on Wed and return home Wed night, since we're going "back in time".

First "happy bath" - we tried a few days ago and it wasn't good!

At the US Consulate

Our guide, Elvin - he's a riot!

Nap time!

Sunday in Guangzhou

This morning we went to the Yuntai Garden and it was beautiful! We spent about an hour or so walking around, it was very hot and humid - about 88 degrees today with the humidity. After that we went to a shopping area and picked up a few souvenirs. Tonight we are just going to walk around the island some more and try to turn in early.

Tomorrow morning we have our Consulate appointment at 8:30am, which means we have to be ready to leave by 7:45. I think our day is pretty free once we are done there, so it will be nice to have a relaxing afternoon and evening.

These pictures were taken last night as we were walking around the island.

These next pictures were taken this morning at the Yuntai Garden.

These last couple were taking at the shopping area we visited after the Garden.

Making chops for Isaiah

He is using his hand to paint - really awesome to watch!

Catching up

I’ll start with some pictures of yesterday while we were still in Changsha. Most of these were taken at Yuelu Academy … it was so peaceful there,  we seriously did not want to leave. The last picture in this series is at the airport just before we flew out of Changsha. Just like when we left Kunming with Anna, we felt very emotional leaving Changsha with Isaiah.

This tree is estimated to be 800-900 yrs old 

Our sweet guide, Celia, dropping us at the airport

We woke early today to get ready for the medical exam.  It was nothing short of chaos! There were dozens of adoptive families there - totaling easily over 100 people - all waiting for their new children to see all 3 doctors …. Yes, there were only three doctors there to serve us all. It was hot, crowded, loud and exhausting for all the sweet kids. Isaiah cried when the nurses had to examine him, thankfully he recovered very quickly once back in our arms.

After the 2 plus hours at the medical clinic our guide Elvin (who is great and very funny) dropped us back at the hotel and we had lunch. Isaiah was overtired at this point and it took him over an hour to settle and fall asleep. He’s still napping, but once he wakes we’re ready to hit the island for some shopping and eating. It is warm and humid here which is a nice change from cold and rainy. 

Lets get this party bus moving!

This doesn't even do justice to how crowded it was.

Poor baby

Yum Yum - Chicken Congee

Life on the island - Lucy's Restaurant